CALLS for urgent action to tackle racist hate crime in the area Anthony Walker was murdered were made just days before he was killed.

The Knowsley Race Hate steering group raised the alarm about rising racial tension in Huyton a week before 18-year-old Anthony was killed.

The revelation last night came as anti-racist campaigners called for the removal of a sick website containing messages applauding the teenager's murderer.

A source close to the steering group, which consists of officers from Knowsley council, Merseyside Police and other community organisations, said members had expressed their concerns at a meeting just a week before Anthony's death.

The source said: "We wanted to get our concerns and worries at the top of the police and council agendas.

"We were becoming concerned there was an increased number of racist attacks, and people of black and ethnic minorities in Huyton were worried about their safety."

The source said the steering group had received reports of 25 physical attacks on black and ethnic minorities in the last two months.

He added: "This was a very high number, especially considering that at 1.4% the proportion of black and ethnic minority people in the area is very low."

Merseyside Police recorded 58 racially motivated attacks in Knowsley between January and July, compared to 59 in the same time last year.

Anthony Clarke, co-ordinator of the L8 Law Centre, said last night racism was prevalent in Liverpool.

He said: "There were concerns of racial tension in Huyton and reports that the number of events there had increased.

"There are a number of possible reasons. It could be the recent events in London or that there are more people of ethnic minority being decanted in that area.

"The health authorities are recruiting employees from India and Pakistan and placing them in accommodation in areas that are not necessarily receptive towards them.

"But this is all just speculation. The real reasons need to be discovered before the situation can be resolved."

When asked if is Liverpool really a tolerant city, Mr Clarke said: "No. That is borne out by events. Racism is alive in every sphere of life in Liverpool. Incidents of racism occur regularly here in housing or employment issues."

One visitor, who said he lived just a mile from the scene of Anthony's murder, admitted he was amazed the story had been published internationally.

He also claimed that most people in Huyton backed his bigoted views, despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary in the community's appalled response to Anthony's murder. Mike Killian, spokesman for Unite Against Fascism which yesterday organised a vigil for Anthony at St George's Plateau, branded the messages "sickening" and called for the site to be taken down.

Mr Killian said: "It is absolutely sickening that people would respond to the brutal murder of an innocent young man in this way.

"The murder of Anthony Walker cannot and must not be condoned in any way. If this guestbook remains open it will continue to be a place where racists meet and breed hatred.

"Inciting racial hatred is a crime and these vile messages must be investigated by police.

"Organisations and web servers who find their systems abused in this way must bring down the sites and inform the police."